Crypto Currents: Coinbase, Mastercard in talks to acquire stablecoin firm BVNK

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the “Crypto Currents” weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.

COINBASE, MASTERCARD IN TALKS TO ACQUIRE STABLECOIN FIRM: Coinbase (COIN) and MasterCard (MA) have each held advanced takeover talks to acquire London-based stablecoin firm BVNK, Fortune’s Ben Weiss and Leo Schwartz reported Thursday, citing six sources familiar with the dealings. The terms and winning suitor have not been determined, but the sale price is slated to range between $1.5B-$2.5B, the authors said, noting that the talks may not lead to a final deal. Coinbase, at this moment, seems to have the inside track over MasterCard, three sources told Fortune.

Additionally on Thursday, Sharps Technology (STSS) and Coinbase announced a strategic collaboration whereby STSS will expand its previously announced Solana digital asset treasury strategy with Coinbase. STSS has acquired over 2M SOL to-date, which are currently valued at over $400M with SOL trading at over $210. The company intends to utilize Coinbase Prime’s custody infrastructure and OTC desk products as part of this collaboration.

On Wednesday, Barclays lowered the firm’s price target on Coinbase to $361 from $365 and kept an Equal Weight rating on the shares as part of a Q3 earnings preview. The firm is 6% ahead of the Street on adjusted EBITDA. It believes Coinbase is likely report to EBITDA beat higher on retail trading and blockchain rewards revenues.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Jiko, a platform built 100% on U.S. T-bills to power the world’s liquidity, announced strategic backing by Coinbase and Blockstream Capital Partners. Alongside this investment, Jiko is entering new strategic partnerships with industry players, including Crypto.com, Blockstream Capital Partners, Bitso, and Coinbase. These strategic partners will join a growing number of institutions adopting Jiko as a banking partner to utilize its U.S. T-bill-based model for storage, settlements, and payments.

“Bringing U.S. T-bill access onto an always-on platform is an important step in how markets evolve,” said Roger Bartlett, VP, Institutional at Coinbase. “Jiko’s approach and technology are a good fit with the pace at which we’re building, and we’re pleased to support Coinbase’s investment in Jiko through the JikoNet platform.”

KERRISDALE GOES SHORT ON BITMINE: Kerrisdale Capital announced a short position in Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) on Wednesday, saying the company is “chasing a model that is on its way to extinction.” Bitmine has “flooded the market” with over $10B of new stock over the last three months, “trying to restart a flywheel that no longer spins,” Kerrisdale wrote in a short report posted on its website. The firm does not believe the shares will sustain a premium valuation over the value of its token holdings.

On Monday, BitMine announced BitMine(ORBS) and unencumbered cash of $456M.

“We spent the past week in Singapore at Token2049 meeting with many leaders in the crypto and blockchain industry. The BitMine team sat down with Ethereum core developers and key ecosystem players and it is clear the community is focused on enabling Wall Street and AI to build the future on Ethereum. We remain confident that the two Supercycle investing narratives remain AI and crypto. Naturally, Ethereum remains the premier choice given its high reliability and 100% uptime. These two powerful macro cycles will play out over decades. Since ETH’s price is a discount to the future, this bodes well for the token and is the reason BitMine’s primary treasury asset is ETH,” said Thomas Lee, Chairman.

BULLISH, DEUTSCHE BANK ENTER CORPORATE BANKING PARTNERSHIP: Bullish (BLSH) announced Wednesday (DB). Through this partnership, Deutsche Bank will provide comprehensive corporate banking services to Bullish, including the facilitation of fiat deposits and withdrawals for customers of Bullish Exchange’s Hong Kong SFC and German BaFin-regulated businesses. The setup will be enriched with APIs for real-time reporting and instant payments together with a virtual accounting solution for improved reconciliation rates. The partnership also aims to extend these services to customers in other locations, including the U.S., as Bullish expands its regulatory footprint.

“Partnering with Deutsche Bank marks a significant milestone for Bullish’s banking network and offers greater choice to our customers,” said Chris Tyrer, President of Bullish Exchange. “We are proud to enhance the security and efficiency of our services by providing customers with seamless on-ramp and off-ramp access to Bullish through Deutsche Bank’s fiat payment rails.”

FIGURE INITIATIONS: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Figure (FIGR) with a Buy rating and $42 price target, which implies 4% upside. The firm views the company as a “unique lender” in public markets, with blockchain and other technology underlying its loans. Figure should see share gains within its core home equity loan product and total addressable market expansion into other consumer loans, the analyst said.

Jefferies initiated coverage of Figure with a Hold rating and $40 price target. With only 3.3% market share, the company has a “significant opportunity” for growth within its existing product offering as well as through adjacent asset classes, the analyst said. However, the firm views the shares as fairly valued at current levels.

Additionally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage of Figure with an Overweight rating and $50 price target. The company is trading at a 28% discount to its digital asset peers, the analyst said. The firm added investors are increasingly looking for exposure to “blockchain native disruptors positioned to win in a tokenized economy.” Figure stands out in the “noisy” digital asset space, contended Piper.

Bernstein initiated coverage of Figure with an Outperform rating and $54 price target. The firm says tokenized loans digitize and disintermediate lending markets. Figure is a market leader in credit tokenization, with 75% market share in tokenized private credit, the analyst said. It believes the company’s technology brings the liquidity of blockchain capital markets to consumer loans.

Meanwhile, Mizuho initiated coverage of Figure with an Outperform rating and $47 price target. The firm believes the company is positioned to “increasingly disrupt” the $250B-$300B U.S. home equity line of credit market with its blockchain-powered, asset-light platform. Figure has several competitive advantages to help it sustain a “competitive moat”, including a proprietary blockchain loan origination system that funds HELOCs, the analyst said.

Keefe Bruyette initiated coverage of Figure with an Outperform rating and $48.50 price target. Through its application of tokenization to modernize legacy capital markets infrastructure for real-world assets, the firm believes Figure is positioned to be a “relative winner in the emerging public blockchain category,” the analyst said. The company’s “meaningful traction” of its blockchain-native capital markets platform in the HELOC market has already enabled Figure to achieve a “commanding” 73% of share tokenized private credit and a 39% share of all tokenized real-world assets, the analyst noted.

GEMINI INITIATIONS: Goldman Sachs initiated coverage of Gemini (GEMI) with a Neutral rating and $25 price target, implying 1% downside. The firm says Gemini is a “rapidly growing” service crypto exchange. The company should see “robust” sales growth and could gain market share, but faces cyclical and profitability questions, the analyst said.

Evercore ISI initiated coverage of Gemini with an Outperform rating and $30 price target. While the company is smaller than its public peers, it is well positioned for the secular growth in digital assets, the analyst said. The firm sees Gemini regaining market share through a renewed focus on user acquisition.

Mizuho initiated coverage of Gemini with an Outperform rating and $30 price target. The firm said the company offers a “differentiated” next-generation digital asset platform with a “compliance first” approach. Gemini benefits from a “strong secular tailwind of crypto adoption resembling the early internet days,” the analyst said.

Additionally, Keefe Bruyette initiated coverage of Gemini with a Market Perform rating and $27 price target. The firm said Gemini is a global digital assets exchange catering to both retail and institutional traders. The stock offers an attractive risk/reward for investors positioning for an extended crypto cycle, the analyst said.

Needham initiated coverage of Gemini with a Buy rating and $42 price target. Gemini has notable potential growth driven by low-hanging fruit capture in staking and new asset listings, card growth which is driving 3x higher ARPU among the customer cohort, and new greenfield opportunities in tokenized real-world assets and down the line Prediction Markets which Needham views attractive markets to enter into, the analyst said.

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Gemini with an Equal Weight rating and $29 price target. The crypto-native exchange has a unique customer acquisition funnel that’s “attractively positioned to benefit” from wider crypto adoption and regulatory clarity, but the firm cites the company’s skew to retail crypto trading, a lack of profitability and aggressive spending to fuel growth for its Equal Weight rating as it sees these factors setting up a “wide range of outcomes.”

Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage of Gemini with an Overweight rating and $37 price target. After resolving the fallout from its failed “Earn” program and restoring customer assets, Gemini is positioned for renewed growth driven by higher marketing spend, rising trading volumes, and expanding assets on its platform, creating strong revenue potential and an appealing risk/reward profile with shares still below their IPO price, the analyst said.

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:

• Riot Platforms (RIOT) price target raised to $29 from $16 at Clear Street
• Galaxy Digital (GLXY) launches GalaxyOne fintech platform
• KULR Technology (KULR), Soluna (SLNH) enter 3.3MW hosting partnership
• Bit Digital (BTBT) acquires 31,057 ETH
• Square (XYZ) introduces bitcoin payment tools for local businesses
• IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) to invest up to $2B in Polymarket
• Hive Digital (HIVE) price target raised to $7.50 from $6 at Northland
• Bitdeer (BTDR) initiated with a Buy at JonesResearch
• CleanSpark (CLSK) price target raised to $23 from $21 at Needham
• Morgan Stanley (MS) reportedly broadening crypto access to retirement accounts

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital , Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), Strategy (MSTR), Riot Platforms and TeraWulf (WULF).

PRICE ACTION: As time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 1% this week to $122,217 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.